A famous Iranian director, Dariush Mehrjui, 84, and his wife Vahideh Mohammadifar were stabbed to death in their villa in Meshkindasht township in Karaj, Alborz province, west of Tehran, local media reported last night.
Police arrived at the scene and were alerted by Mehrjui’s daughter, who found the bodies. Rumors circulated on social media that they had been beheaded, but there was no official confirmation.
Alborz police chief Hamid Hadavand said the evidence suggested the murder was committed by unknown persons and had knife wounds on the neck and other parts of the body. Before the incident, Mohammadifar, a writer, wrote on social media that the couple had been threatened with a knife by a non-Iranian person, allegedly an Afghan citizen.
Amehrjui, one of the founders of the Iranian New Wave of the early 1970s, made films that won awards at Iranian and international festivals. The Islamic Republic has banned some of his films, including his most recent 2019 film, “Laminar,” which was eventually released in theaters with some parts censored.
Mehrjui had said in an interview that “Bicycle Thieves” by Vittorio De Sica made the biggest impression on him as a child. Then The Cow, 1969, The Postman, 1972. His acclaimed film The Circle, 1974, and his 1983 French documentary were successfully screened at international film festivals, including the Venice International Film Festival, winning rare reviews and awards.
His other famous films include The Pear Tree, Hamoon, The Tenants, Sara, Pari, Leila, Mom’s Guest and Santouri. The latter, which told the life of a young drug addict, was never released for screening.
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